It is estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide (recent UNICEF report.)
The current population of the United States is just a little over 300 million… to give you an idea of the enormity of the numbers… (The current population of Russia is 141 million)
Every day 5,760 more children become orphans
2,102,400 more children become orphans every year in Africa alone
Every 15 seconds, another child in Africa becomes an AIDS orphan
There are an estimated 14 million AIDS orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa (a number higher than the total of every under-eighteen year old in Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland combined)
This figure is estimated to reach 18 million orphans in Africa alone by 2010 (only two and a half years away)
8 out of 10 children orphaned by AIDS lives in sub-saharan Africa
Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…
Each year 14, 505, 000 children grow up as orphans and age out of the system by age sixteen
Each day 38,493 orphans age out
Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out with no family to belong to and no place to call home
In Russia and the Ukraine, studies have shown that 10% – 15% of these children commit sucide before they reach age eighteen
These studies also show that 60% of the girls become prostitutes and 70% of the boys become hardened criminals
Another Russian study reported that of the 15,000 orphans aging out of state-run institutions every year, 10% committed suicide, 5,000 were unemployed, 6,000 were homeless and 3,000 were in prison within three years…
I just wanted to share these statistics as a reminder… A reminder to pray. A reminder to give. A reminder to advocate. The agonizing reality of these numbers breaks my heart and drives me to my knees. The tears of the children and grief of the parents who can not care for their beloved babies weighs so heavily on my heart at times. In the midst of it, I have to believe that God loves every soul – equally and passionately — and grieves for each situation individually more than my finite mind can understand.
In a perfect world, there would be no need for adoption. Biological families would stay together. Children would be raised by loving parents or grandparents and remain in their homeland, surrounded by their culture and connected to their roots tangibly. Obviously, these statistics illustrate that we do not live in a perfect world. Adoption is not the answer for solving the underlying issues of poverty and disease and famine and war. It won’t stop the cycle of more children becoming orphans. It is a life-line thrown out to a precious few… it rescues a small percentage from the going over the falls. The tough question as we see the overwhelming need is how do we bring solutions to the roots of the issues?… how do we make a difference not just in one child’s life through adoption, but in the lives of the thousands left behind… and ultimately how do we stop the cycles that turn innocent children into orphans?
It can be difficult to allow ourselves to really think about these statistics and what they represent. Its easy to respond numbly and see the statistics in terms of thousands or millions… but when we allow ourselves to become personally involved and risk the heart-grief that follows awareness, they become more than mere statistics… they become real children with real hearts that ache for their parents and real bodies that hunger for care. Every single child that makes up the thousands or millions is a precious child, just like my Joanna… just like my Henry. I pray that my own heart will continue to be stirred and my resolve strengthened to speak out for those that have no voice. These precious children need advocates. They need men and women willing to make a difference… willling to stand in the gap and act on their behalf.
May our hearts grow softer and our voices rise louder…
“Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Deliver the weak and needy from the hand of the wicked.” Ps 82:3-4
(Sources: Human Rights Watch: “Abandoned to the State: Cruelty and Neglect in Russian Orphanages” November 1998 ; www.hfgf.org/statistics.pdf ; www.unaids.org/epi/2005 ; UNICEF’s Childhood Under Threat: the State of the World’s Children, 2005 ; www.unicef.org/uniteforchildren/ )
28 comments
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May 2, 2008 at 2:34 pm
lauren
This is unbelieveable.
I am 14 and doing a science project on In Vitro Fertilization.
I wanted to find orphan rates and adotion rates to add to my project. (cons) and I luckily found this site.
This page, proves the saddness of our world. but if you grew up with a family and in a healthy life like I have you dont think about this. I am very thankful for my life, and my family.
May 12, 2008 at 6:56 pm
marcy
this is so sad! i’m 15 and i’m writing a paper on orphan statistics and adoption and everything i’m finding is just really sad. i wish i could help all the orphans…i want to adopt when i’m older. i’m glad you’re writing about orphans and making people aware of them. you’re doing a great job! =) thank you for adopting!
May 14, 2008 at 12:21 am
Claudia
Hi!!! i think all of this its really dissapointing, with all the day by day improvements we have ìt`s still surprising that all of this kids are out in the streets unprotected. i was doing research for a persuasive speech and i chose adoption since i`ve being considering it for myself for the past few years. i now i`m only twenty and i don`t now much about life but I firmly believe there`s already too many kids in the world that need love and support for us to be bringing more and more kids to life. I consider adoptions as my main option when the time to have my own family come. thanks a lot for providing these Unicef statistics!!
July 22, 2008 at 7:00 pm
ammar
Wow, May Allah make it easy for all those distressed children out there! I needed this because i need this for a project in which we get schools involved to sponsor orphans and help the needy. And i’m only 14!! This is sad, but just what i needed, the info that is!
July 29, 2008 at 12:34 pm
cabsplace
This is a great site and this page is especially informative. Might I suggest that you add a page to your blog that gives people direction should they feel led to consider adoption. I’ve always wanted to adopt a child from Africa, since I was about 25, but it never materialized. Now that I am in my mid-40’s and a single mom, I’d still like to do it, but, really now, what are the odds? In any event, there are others who might like the information and resources you’ve done the work to get.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Cat
August 1, 2008 at 9:51 pm
nzbible_reader
I started a blog about our story to adopt from africa in 2009.
i stole some of your stats!
August 30, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Karissa
Hi,
I was just wondering where you got these statistics (what site) and how recent it is? I am writing a speech on orphans and I need to cite where I get all of my info. Thanks!
~Karissa
September 14, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Carole
Hello. My husband and I are in the process of adopting domestically. This Saturday night we’re hosting a barn dance (square dancing) as a fundraiser for the adoption and I’ve been looking “everywhere” on the web to find stats on adoption. That’s how I arrived here. Thanks! It’s amazing how much information is on google and yet not much at all comes up when searching for the stats on adoption and orphans (and definitely not when I type in black babies vs. white babies availability – but that’s a whole ‘nother topic!).
Thanks again. It’s encouraging to see another family that’s already doing the adoption thing.
October 7, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Samantha
Wow, this is painful to read. I’m 16 and, just like a few of the other comments have stated, I’m doing a research project on Orphans. Now, I already know a lot of the horrors of what being an orphan entitles (by research-not first-hand) but this brings a better visual to how much pain and suffering children all over the world are feeling.
Thank you for posting this.
November 26, 2008 at 8:00 pm
ramon
Can anyone tell me how many orphans are in the US and how many kids become orphans each day in the US?
November 26, 2008 at 8:01 pm
ramon
And why?
January 1, 2009 at 6:40 pm
luke
May 2, 2008 at 2:34 pm
This is unbelieveable.
I am 14 and doing a science project on In Vitro Fertilization.
I wanted to find orphan rates and adotion rates to add to my project. (cons) and I luckily found this site.
This page, proves the saddness of our world. but if you grew up with a family and in a healthy life like I have you dont think about this. I am very thankful for my life, and my family
January 10, 2009 at 8:39 am
tach
I cant believe this
i am doing an oral expo for my spanish AS and decided adoption as my topic because i hate to think there are so many children without parents and couples who want children but cant have them. But why? why do governments make it so hard to adopt. My parents have only 2 children because the other 3 died. My mom wanted to adopt but they ask you to be a millionaire and I know that maybe if i had thos little brothers tha¡ey wouldn’t be super rich but i knoe they would be better tyhan in an institution alone. They would have food and school ajnd toys but specially tons of love. So why? why do they do that? orphans are expensive to governments they dont care about them so why dont they give them to us why¿ what has our society become? at least there are ppl like you who still care and it is great we did this research because there is not enough concious about these at least i had no idea about this numbers. So I decide to be a sociologist and hgope to make a diff for a few of them and hope others will follow my steps and prefer to make a change than to become a millionaire.
thanks foe this without you i would still be onconcious
god bless ya all
January 30, 2009 at 11:20 am
Jenna
I too, feel the burden that you feel. I have been thinking about this exact same thing. Have you read Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis. I came across that book and it has just opened my eyes to another world that perhaps, I never understood. Learning the statistics and the reality of this situation has been heartbreaking for me, but as you said, something that I cannot ignore.
February 5, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Tyler Gilbert
Unfortante…. but thank you for finding this information… i am doing a project in sh school and this will help alot…. i wish all of these kids better lives
February 20, 2009 at 12:49 pm
ashley
hello; stumbled across this site – nice to have so many stats in one place. it’s been mentioned already but it’s pretty challenging to get definite #’s on this problem.
here’s a website i came across just now & thought it was helpful (for the purposes of clarification)
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_44928.html
God bless,
ashley
March 10, 2009 at 11:11 am
Chelsea
Hi! I loved your post and your obvious anguish over the millions of orphans all over the world…
I’m writing an article about adoption for a Christian publication, and I wondered where you found these statistics. I’d love to use some of them, but I’ll need more concrete documentation.
Thanks!!
April 29, 2009 at 8:40 am
Rebecca Wooten
Wow! I’m 16 and writing a persuasive speech on why couples should adopt rather than use invitro fertilization. Thanks for publishing these statistics. I really hope people see the importance of saving children that have already been born, even if they are not our own children.
May 3, 2009 at 8:29 am
Heather Banks
I am a 20 year college student from Kentucky. I found this site while researching adoption for my persuasive speech. This site made me realize just how lucky I am. I had no idea what I was getting into when I bean this speech but it truly has touched my heart in a way very unexpected. I was wondering if you could tell me the age that you have to be before you can adopt.
May 26, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Kristen
this is crazy! I am doing a paper on orphanages. I went to one in Africa just a month ago and it broke my heart. It is defiantly something that people need to know about more.
June 21, 2009 at 6:30 am
Lujimar
i am 14 years old and writing a persuasive speech on helping orphans
thanks to this site.. i already have ideas about what im going to put as an introduction for my speech..
i hope this could help others.
July 23, 2009 at 10:40 am
charlotte
we have the same passion. I am terribly concerned about orphans and what happens to them. I am planning by Gods grace to adopt from India and Russia. My best friend Abha looks after 14 children in a safehouse in India. t. She did all the hard work of rounding them up and she looks after them every day. I don’t get to be there to help but I try to send all the help I can. I think all of us need to start opening homes for these children. We need to find them and bring them home and if we can’t do that we need to send the money so someone else can do it. Thank you for giving these statistics. I hope you don’t mind I included them on my website and linked them back to you. May God bless you! C
August 26, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Doug Riggle
Thank you for your efforts! I was an orphan (but adopted later) and I adopted my own son… three years ago I founded Orphan World Relief (http://www.OrphanWorldRelief.org) to try and make a difference.
Thank you for making a difference!
September 2, 2009 at 4:09 am
robert grindley
Hi, I am missionary in botswana and currently building a center for orphans. Also doors are opening in zimbabwe to do the same. Thank you for caring and sounding the alarm. I wish everyone could take a few minutes to consider the suffering going on in these kids lives. Maybe they would do something like you have. Again thank you. I will be using a couple of your stats with my report to zimbabwe government for land for the orphan center. If all goes through know you have been part of the answer in zim.
love in christ, rob & mary grindley
October 9, 2009 at 9:52 am
Jane H Gravis
Hi,
Thank you so much for your heart for the orphans of the world. I am the founder of an orphanage home in Kenya, Africa. I was doing a search to see if the statistics had gone up in the last couple of years. I love all your statistics and will use them on my web site to help people be aware of the growing epidemic. Visit our site: http://www.IntoAbbasArms.org
In His Name—- Jane
October 12, 2009 at 2:10 pm
W
Hi.. i was wondering if these statistics are world wide or only in Africa and the states..! please reply cuz im working on a documentary about this from Jordan..
lots of thanks,
W
October 28, 2009 at 7:11 am
V. Bedford
Wow these statistics are crazy. I adore people who adopt.
Where did you find these statistics at because I want to do more research?
October 13, 2009 at 7:51 am
Ash
As a South African, I can say that these statistics are more real that just numbers can portray. Its crazy that so many kids grow up without a family to call their own. But in my own journey with NGO’s and my church, an even bigger issue (at least in South Africa) is not orphans (who need adoption) but kids whose parents are still alive, but are incapable of looking after them, for various different reasons. Often these kids can’t be adopted, because their parents won’t sign over their parental rights, and people aren’t willing to foster as they may have to give the child back one day (though this is actually rarer than one may think, and many foster kids are placed with their families until their 18th birthdays, and then are free to make their own choices). For those of you overseas (in the states or anywhere else) look into giving to organisations that deal with this type of issue…
having said that. I’m HUGE into the idea of adoption, and when I’m married I definitely plan on adopting (and in South Africa it will almost always end up being an interracial adoption). So I think its amazing what you’ve done. All the best for the future!